Red tide fouling Florida beaches with no end in sight

Sunday

Aug 12, 2018 at 6:33 AM

On the fine white sand beaches of Anna Maria Island, the putrid corpses of all sorts of sea life are tangled in the seagrass just ahead of the surf.

As thunder rolled in, Matt Nolan, a rusted green metal wagon full of garbage bags of dead fish behind him, dug another glove covered hand into the sand. Nolan dumped a baby flounder, an eel and a Spanish mackerel into the wagon and inched forward to do it all over again.

The 49-year-old life coach from Chicago has been doing it almost every morning of his two-week vacation since tons of death washed up on these shores. Heading about 100 yards in both directions, he estimates he’s collected about 300 pounds a day.

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He isn’t paid and no one asked him to do it. But there’s a lot at stake, Nolan said. He’s been coming to this beach every year since he was 11 years old. But since his father died, he wanted to keep it the pristine paradise he keeps coming back to.

“It’s a magical place. It’s a place to remember my dad without being sad,” Nolan said. “I’m just trying to create a little bit of happiness.”

World-renowned for its long beaches with their soft, white sand, southwest Florida this summer is under attack by a menacing red tide — an algae confounding scientists with its longevity and overwhelming its coastline with mountains of dead fish, turtles, dolphins and manatees.

Manatee County estimates it has removed more than 40.5 tons of red tide waste from its beaches and waterways since the algae bloom spread north last weekend. Neighboring beaches in Sarasota County have collected about 66 tons of decomposing fish.

Crews begin early in the morning and return multiple times a day, said Drew Winchester, a spokesman with Sarasota County. The same is true for Manatee County, said Nick Azzara, county spokesman.

But even with the routine, it’s a never-ending job, Nolan said. Each incoming wave seems to bring in more dead sea life.

Mote Marine Laboratory’s beach conditions reporting system confirmed the presence of red tide was still strong on Sarasota and Manatee County beaches on Saturday. Varying levels of dark water, red drift, dead fish and respiratory irritation were reported from Anna Maria Island all the way to Manasota Beach.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Saturday that water samples taken from beaches in Sarasota and Manatee counties continued to contain high concentrations of Karenia brevis, the red tide organism.

From Anna Maria Island moving south toward Siesta Beach on Saturday, the Gulf waters were murky green and the shift in the east breeze sent red tide scratching down the back of your throat. The smell was strong enough to permeate a car even with the windows up in some spots along Florida State Road 789, the island-hopping main drag that changes names a few times along its path from Anna Maria to St. Armands Key.

In Englewood, the red tide irritation was so bad that Mark Timchula, who operates beach chair rentals at Englewood Beach, refused to go out for his weekly red tide update on his “The Beach Guy” Instagram account.

“It’s not good out here,” he said in the video. “I’m just giving you the straight talk. No lies.”

The incoming thunderstorms and persistent mid-morning rain kept most people off the beach. At Siesta Beach, red no-swim advisory flags whipped in the wind as rain spat down on the shorebirds along the mostly empty beach.

On-duty lifeguards on Siesta Beach declined to comment. A Facebook page called “Scooter of the Beach,” apparently run by a longtime Sarasota County lifeguard, gives daily video red tide updates from Siesta Beach.

“There’s no sign of a light at the end of the tunnel right now,” he said in the Facebook video. “All we can do is say our prayers.”

Scientists statewide and with NOAA are trying to understand the duration of this year’s bloom, which began in October. While unusual and unpleasant, the event is not without precedent — an 18-month bloom befouled local beaches between 2004 and 2006.

A major weather system — such as a hurricane — may be the only thing that could rid southwest Florida of the noxious bloom any time soon, said Vincent Lovko, a staff scientist at Mote.

But the tropics remain quiet, and U.S. forecasters say the Atlantic hurricane season may be less active than they previously predicted.

Back on Anna Maria Island, Nolan, the tourist from Chicago, said that the red tide has worked its way through the ecosystem. One day it’s pinfish. Other days, snook. Today, it’s baby flounder.

“It’s really sad,” Nolan said, “You hear on the news that it’s hurting local businesses. My advice as a tourist? Just stick it through. Help out if you can.”

tim.fanning@heraldtribune.com

@timothyjfanning

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